Monday 14 September 2015

What a Stroke of Luck!

I've said it before and I'll say it again; politics is as much about luck as anything and boy has Jeremy Corbyn been lucky! He wasn't lucky to win of course, that was a nailed-on certainty as soon as his name got on the ballot paper "to make sure we have a proper debate" and his luck just got better, and better, and better. The more the Labour big guns came out with their dire warnings, the more popular the man became, but they still don't get it. The political landscape has and is changing dramatically now that the genie is out of the bottle and people realise there really is another way to run an economy and country.  

The idiotic £3 supporters scam was just too good a wheeze for the mischievous to ignore and the Westminster political elite simply failed to notice that vast swathes of the normally disenfranchised electorate had been waiting for a chance to have a voice. I predict that membership of the Labour Party will explode as people become increasingly energised by the novelty of having a Loyal Opposition that actually starts talking about some seriously different policies. 

British politics has been turned upside down this weekend and will never be quite the same again. Oh the sheer joy of seeing all those long faces of former Shadow ministers when the result was announced and the realisation dawned that they'd not only backed the wrong horse, but they'd backed themselves into a corner called political oblivion. 

I don't think it will be long before Yvette Cooper joins her husband in the States, but canny Andy Burnham could see which way the wind was blowing and has been rewarded with her former portfolio at the Home Office. And what a brilliant wheeze bringing back Tony Blair's former flat-mate Charlie Faulkner and to his old job as Shadow Justice Secretary! For a retired geography teacher-looking Opposition Leader, he's certainly got style and a sense of humour in my book.

It will be absolutely fascinating to see what other names emerge over the coming days as Jeremy puts together the rest of his team. I notice the Sunday Times is flagging-up Keir Starmer as a possible name and I certainly feel the former Crown Prosecution Chief who has a clean political sheet is definitely a possible future leader. My guess is he's a canny guy, having had a proper job before entering politics and unlike the wrong-footed political elite, soon saw the direction of the wind, in fact a bit like Hilary Benn who was never a great fan of Blair and hence able to hang on to the Foreign Affairs portfolio.

I found it reassuring to hear Tom Watson, the newly-elected deputy leader speaking on the BBC 1 Andrew Marr Show and making it plain that Jeremy will be encouraged to ditch all that nonsense about leaving Nato and scrapping Trident. As a good democrat the new Leader will have to accept the will of the party on such issues and fortunately there's no chance of him getting that through the party. But most of the other stuff really resonates with the public and I predict the Tories will come to rue the day they thought it would be a jolly jape to make sure the Labour Party elected the 'no-hoper' Jeremy Corbyn. 

Astonishingly, for the first time, Prime Minister's Question's might just be about holding the Prime Minister to account in future as Corbyn has signalled an end to the ritualised public school-boy antics every Wednesday and instead is likely to usher in some clinical forensic examination. This is bound to be another hugely popular development with a public utterly turned off by the sight of grown-ups yelling at each other for 45 minutes once a week. Bringing in other front bench colleagues to face-off Cameron is another brilliant wheeze and the Prime Minister will have to rethink his tactics very carefully if he tries to obstruct Corbyn by refusing to play ball.

I have to say I haven't felt so positive about things for a very long time and to hear the Tories and the right-wing press foaming at the mouth is absolutely wonderful because it will prove to be a completely ineffective response. A whole new generation of young voters in particular want to get involved in serious debate about an alternative to the tired old policies of austerity and cuts being the only way. Jeremy's election will deliver that and it will be hugely popular. 

Of course Corbyn won't be leading the party into the 2020 election, but he will have ensured that whomever emerges over the next four years will be fighting that election on a radically different platform of popular new policies that will give millions hope for a better future that doesn't involve further privatisations, endless public service cuts and a society descending yet further into greater division and inequity. There really is a third way and we're living through its birth and development. Exciting and more hopeful times indeed, but I really feel the need to repeat that Corbyn must start a debate about reform of our electoral system. 

I've no doubt I've upset a few readers, but I'll end by saying this seismic change can only be good for an utterly beleaguered probation service. We know Harry Fletcher has been advising Corbyn and there's this on the latter's website:-

Jeremy Corbyn: I will be brief so that the two Front Benchers can respond in good time. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) for getting this debate, which is necessary and important.

I am a member of the Justice Committee, and we have listened to a great deal of evidence about the operation of the probation service. We have heard some very serious, deep concerns from long-standing, committed, professional people who want to deliver a good probation service. They now find themselves being hawked around to the lowest bidder, as the tendering process gathers pace. It is quite shocking that, by May, 80% of rehabilitation services of all kinds will be in the private sector, not the public sector. Whoever is elected to form the next Government in May will have to preside over a system over which they have quite limited control and where there is a real problem with communication between the different sectors of the service.

Our duty as Members of Parliament is to hold the Government to account, and the duty of members of the Justice Committee is specifically to hold the Ministry of Justice, including the Lord Chancellor and the other Ministers, to account. They have three roles that apply to this debate. The first, obviously, is ensuring the safety of the judicial system, so that those who are convicted are genuinely convicted. Secondly, there is the role of the prisons and what happens in them. Do people come out of prison more or less likely to offend and more or less well equipped to deal with the challenges of society? From that stems the problem of reoffending. I am far from convinced, however, that dividing up a service and attacking the professionals in it all the time, as well as the current Lord Chancellor’s obsession with privatising every conceivable aspect of the judicial process, helps to achieve any of that, and does not make the situation considerably worse.

We have had evidence from NAPO, which has provided briefings to the Committee and to many hon. Members, and I want to mention some of its concerns:

“Same day reports (SDRs) and oral reports at Court do not allow sufficient time to carry out checks with police and children’s services”.

That must be a matter of concern. Staff shortages have led to cancellations of sex offender programmes and domestic violence programmes, and obviously extreme danger goes with that. Because of a

“lack of fully qualified probation officers…domestic violence cases are being allocated to Probation Service Officers who are not experienced or qualified to work with these complex cases”.

Apparently, the

“National Probation Service (NPS) in some regions is no longer sending representatives to Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences”

because there are not enough staff.

The whole point of a rehabilitation process is to link all the agencies. What is happening is the opposite of that—the break-up of the link between them. Instead of meetings of a group of professionals from different public sector organisations, there are meetings of competing privatecompanies—some of which are inhibited by data protection law from sharing information with each other. We have reached an absurd situation and I hope that the Minister will tell us that everything is well, that things are going to get better and that he will halt the privatisation process that is going ahead with such speed.

At the Justice Committee before December, we were informed of potential conflicts of interest with the new chief inspector of probation. The Secretary of State promised us an answer by today. Today is not yet finished; there are still nearly nine hours to go, in which an answer can be given. Perhaps the Minister will tell us what action has been taken on that issue, which is of great concern to the public.

The debate is about the probation service, and it is also about the kind of society that we want to live in. I had the good fortune to go with the Justice Committee on a visit to young offenders institutions in Denmark and Norway. I have also visited quite a lot in this country. I pay tribute to the people who work in YOIs. It is not an easy job. One of the most interesting times I had was a long session with a group of young offenders in Feltham, where I went with my hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra). It was just us and the group of young offenders. Listening to their stories was very sad, and so was listening to what they had done. Listening to their lack of ambition for when they came out was even worse.

Surely, the criminal justice system must be based on the idea that, although those who have committed crimes must face a judicial process and there are occasions when it is right to send someone to prison or give them community service—there is a range of options—the primary objective is to bring them out as better people, with personal ambitions and a personal network, rather than as people facing the same issues they faced before with a high likelihood of reoffending. We all pay the price for their reoffending, in the lost skills of those who go to prison and the damage to communities.

We talked to people at the MultifunC institutions in Denmark and Norway, and the system is expensive to operate; I do not doubt that. It is much more intensive and professionally supported than our services, but the level of reoffending is below 20%. Ours is well above 50% for pretty well all categories, and well above 70% for others. Something is going badly wrong.

There is no evidence to suggest that privatising the probation service, Prison Service and all other forms of rehabilitation and support does anything but create competition in the private sector and a miasma of bureaucracy. The losers are the ex-offenders, the community, and those of us—all of us—who must pay the costs in reoffending, more prisons and more sentencing. Surely, there is a better way to go about this—one that would show some respect for those who have given their lives to the probation service and who in a decent and professional way try to improve people’s lives, rather than working solely for private sector companies whose main interest is making money out of the system.
    

55 comments:

  1. No one is interesred in this. New topic please?

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    1. to 10 06 -How can you say that? This total change of political direction is giving many many people hope again. To have a prominent politician who listens, and believes in social justice is a dream come true. He cannot work miracles but he has re-lit the fires in the bellies of the older generation who can remember better days which we thought were lost forever,and fired up our youth generation to take up the fight for fair play.

      Are you really supporting such an unjust and cruel Tory regime? Is it not worth giving an alternative way a chance?

      .

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    2. Jarvis Crocker (Author of Manual Probation Practices, 1945)14 September 2015 at 13:34

      Wow, that was a narrow escape! Having read through Jim's latest blog avidly, and thinking to myself "this is very interesting", I went to the comments section, only to find I had been wrong all along! Silly me! Thank heavens you were there to explain that, despite my apparent focus on what Jim had written, NO-ONE is interested. So I can't have been interested either! Thank you SO much. Do you have any more humble gems of empathy? Any other examples of a readiness to accept that some people actually think differently to you?
      No? Gosh, there's a surprise.

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    3. Actually I am very interested.

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  2. I agree with most of what you say but not all. NATO is America's baby and they are using it to further their Empire. Ukraine is the test, I see America and NATO as the aggressor , America wants to control global operations ( Monroe Doctrine). The Pentagon is pushing this line and it is a powerful sector of government. Big Business including UK business makes billions out of war; indeed the economic models of America and the UK rely heavily on war and finance. NATO is a front for Imperialism, Corbyn along with the Stop the War Movement are, I think ,correct on this issue. Jim we need an adult debate on this topic thankfully we might get one with Corbyn.

    I think that the important issue here is the re-emergence of Socialism, Corbyn's socialism is a rather old fashioned state led Socialism. The Zeitgeist is about Horizontalism ,grass roots socialism. Socialism from the bottom up. A socialism that shares corrupting power and in so doing stopping the process of corruption.

    We have a growing Movement but it will only grow in proportion to the time and effort we put into it.

    We can now debate the role of money and the way Financialization is killing capitalism. We can talk about real issues, we cant break away from the controlled narrative that's imprisons us from birth. The Media will continue to try to crucify Corbyn but it looks like Jo public is to canny now to fall for their sophistry.

    papa

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  3. Want to hear about VS , EVR and redundancies. Letters have arrived. Come on.

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  4. We await the announcement of a Shadow Junior Justice Minister - who will perhaps be more prominent than usual because the Justice Secretary - Lord Falconer - is not in The House of Commons - might that be Keir Starmer, maybe?

    Meanwhile, it occurs to me probation & prisons may at last have a friend in the press & PR department of leader of the Opposition’s team in Harry Fletcher - however - firstly they are going to come under sustained attack and ridicule - and also have the very difficult job of managing a parliamentary Labour Party - which mostly did not vote for the leader - although I imagine Tom Watson is fairly popular with them.

    Thanks to Jim Brown for digging out that stuff from when Corbyn was a member of The Justice Select Committee.

    I remain ever grateful for the efforts of my former MP, Sir Norman St John Stevas, (later Baron St John of Fawsley) made to achieve the Select Committee system in Thatcher's era - now if we can get Parliament as a whole in a more active position as far as overseeing the Government, there would be grounds for real optimism, but I cannot see how the disgusting severance scheme from Sodexo might be stopped.

    We are truly living in interesting times - but as Jim Brown rightly highlights, a fair electoral system is vital. It will not come this Parliament and the next general election will start with an extra bias in favour of the Conservative Party as presumably, the draft constituency changes that will cut 50 MPs are likely to be enacted before a general election.

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  5. Haven't been this optimistic in years. At least he didn't need my blocked vote!

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  6. Whats this crap. 14 44 and 12.58 this is our blog. Gi advertising elsewhere. I agree with 10.06. New topic is needed as this one is dire and well covered. Sort it out or risk people going to the new blog

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    1. Oh dear, overt evidence of delusion...please feel free to go and try to read another blog and don't worry yourself for a moment, no one will miss you and nor will Jim's blog. Take care , there are people out there who could help if you ask

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    2. 16:09 'our blog' (?) that means mine too. This is history being made and something which could impact positively on all of the people we work with. I'll be staying with this blog for as long as its going. Take it your off then 16:09?

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  7. Don't understand 16.09. This is very obviously a left wing blog, so what do you expect? Praise for efforts to tackle the deficit? Corbyn will be a prime topic for the Costa Coffee socialists who will overlook any deficient record in actually doing his job to believe the mantra of 'progress.' If you actually lived in London in the 70's and 80's you would have seen the damage these people did. What do you think Kinnock was doing when he got rid of these loons?

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  8. Want to hear about VS , EVR and redundancies. Letters have arrived. Come on.

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    1. Exasperated of Tunbridge Wells14 September 2015 at 19:02

      Post something then, for goodness sake.

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    2. Agreed. Also, can I tentatively suggest that Probation isnt the only star in the universe and momentous things are happening elsewhere 17:11, which are worth just a little look. Half the Shadow Cabinet is female, some could argue just a gesture, but when has any other Leader created this so deliberately? Attending a previous engagement in his constituency yesterday rather than heading for the media limelight on the BBC - so refreshing. The pro union statements being made - I've not heard anything like this for a long time. John McDonnell as Shadow Minister for Finance. Now whilst I'm not expecting any special favours from John when formulating his policy at least we know that he KNOWS Probation and is a staunch supporter. Early indications are that something momentous is happening, and I am trusting that Jeremy Corbyn has been around in politics long enough to have developed a rhino's hide to deal with the media savagery heading his way. Sure, its not all perfect, it's a work in progress, but I for one was happier at work today than I have been at any time in the past 2 years (and nothing in my job has changed from last week!!!!!!)
      Deb

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    3. Couldn't agree more Deb :-)

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    4. Yep I'm seeing a certain desperation in the 'SUN's headlines in the last two days. Resorting to even more comic book antics than usual in their attempt to scare everyone....Oooo-er Jeremy is going to scrap the army...oooer there he is in a jester's hat... . There's a real feel of something happening as you say Deb. (bit of a scorcher eh?)

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  9. Yea 17.11 f%÷k this corbyn crap. Lets discuss wot really matters.

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    1. when TR was still in the embryonic stage, so many staff were regularly commenting on the expectation that all would come good 'when' Labour won the election. But Labour was a disappointing wimp, and not only was TR activated before the election, Labour even failed to get the necessary votes to be in a position to help Probation. And given that the words 'Probation', 'Crime' and 'Justice' were never even mentioned in their manifesto, it became obvious that TR was of no interest to Labour as a party anyway(although some individuals fought hard).

      We now have a Labour leader, who is everything that is humane and socially just, is well aware of Probation's situation and is fired up - in fact, everything we expected of the Leader a year ago, so why then, have I seen 2 posts today talking of irrelevant Corbyn 'crap'?

      Be excited, be supportive, sadly it won't help those who have lost their jobs NOW, but things hopefully will gradually start improving for others in the next few years.

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    2. It would be interesting to know whether those posting negative posts re Corbyn took strike action when it mattered. Dare like to bet they were looking after number 1. Goes with the territory somehow.

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  10. interesting short article in today's Independent - Independent Voices - '5 reasons to be happy about Jeremy Corbyn's victory' - the first one being that, although financial experts, including a Nobel prize winner, have argued that cutting public services is not the best way to reduce financial deficits, this strongly researched information has never made its way into mainstream politics, as, until now, Labour has been listless, and that lack of resistance led to the 3 parties of the last government going ahead with privatisation. This Labour government is now likely to bring this argument and the effects of privatisation, into the public arena, and hopefully to enrage and inspire more people to fight back. (and you never know, Probation might yet get its name mentioned in the 'popular' papers!)

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  11. Here is a man Jeremy Corbyn who in his opening speech refers to humanity, equality, refugees, peace and justice. Follwing his announcement and appointment as the leader he attends a gathering to join his voice in support of refugees. I'm shocked to read and listen to colleagues working in PROBATION puting this man down. Have we gone this low in our values. Have we become so detached from the communities we serve that we have lost our way. If we cannt be bothered to do something at least let someone who is willing and give him the chance that he deserves.

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    1. Sadly you wouldn't be shocked if you spent time in one area of the NPS. There are many Offender Managers, a distinctly different breed to Probation Officers, getting quite nervous and already starting the arguments against the rise of desistance and effective practice, oh how they seem to hate the latter.

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    2. 2006 where have been most probation officers have been like this for years especially post 99 trained for sure. Right wing closet Tories.

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    3. Increasingly confident in stepping out of the closet these days. They are going to have a shock when turning over every stone possible to identify and extrapolate any possible 'risk', writing this down and spewing out as many constraints and restrictions as possible, then sitting back , patting self on the back and considering job done, is increasingly shown to be failure. Keeping people in prison because they haven't done any 'offence focused work' not that they have met or spoken to the person ( well maybe by video link for 30 minutes ) or recalling people to sed 'to protect the public' , quite rightly ( in many cases ) soon to be a failure too.

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    4. I qualified in 2006 and I can assure you I am no closet Tory. I voted for Jeremy Corbyn and I think it is relevant to us . If labour can win then things can start changing for the better in this country

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  12. TUBill passed by 33 votes with 49 MPs abstaining. Which Labour MPs didn't vote?

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  13. Corbyn is everything thats going wrong in society. Taxing profitable companies and redistribution of wealth is not the answer. Free trade is

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    1. Not sure why all these Tories are so resistant to change :-)

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  14. People are scared! Why? We have been fed a diet of Tory austerity and we should be thankful for it , like Oliver Twist.
    But there are alternatives, the press won't show them and the former shadow front bench does not want you to see it - but it is there.
    Fascinating was the sight of former "Firebrand" Blunkett whining about the new reality, sorry Dave there will be no more soundbites and cosy interviews with Sky cos your old news...
    There are many sensible and thoughtful members of the Labour party who were prepared to change the status quo. Now it is time to reassure the rest of the country that they should not be worried about Corbyn politics.

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  15. I'm wondering how best to highlight / record any 'mistakes' we note in the TR chain: you know, like when the prison say someone has accommodation on release 'tick!' But in reality they don't.

    My concern is where does said prisoner end up living in reality? Perhaps with vulnerable children but no-one is aware because TTG have ticked a box to say he's accommodated somewhere else.

    How do we collate this evidence so we can see if it is one or two mistakes or whether it is endemic?

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    1. Good points - Prison Staff have an anonymous drop box linked to a Facebook page.

      https://www.facebook.com/Knowthedangeruk

      They had a press write up two years ago

      http://www.kentonline.co.uk/sheerness/news/prison-officer-highlights-dangers-faced-1661/

      Right now the drop box website link is not working but it is possible to post directly to their Facebook website

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    2. Suggest use whatever reporting mechanism has been in use for the last 15 years....'settled accommodation' was always a tick box unchecked measure, not risk assessed and often meaning a sofa somewhere....who blogged about that?

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    3. If TTG staff are lying to offender managers about accommodation then in some cases police and social services are also being mislead which will inevitably lead to preventable harm not being effectively managed. There are innocent children out there who need protecting and if private companies are taking money and not caring about the ultimate consequences then we all need to care.

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  16. Stop this corbyn crap. He wont change anything. Talk about Napo now. Talk AGM. Discuss! Hatton who let you back on the blog. I thought you had been banned!

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    1. Anon 15:52 I really don't think this blog is for you and suggest you will gain greater satisfaction elsewhere.

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  17. I think 15.52 belongs here. We value diversity don't we Jim? I for one am also not buying into this Cornyn leadership.

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    1. Cheers. Im Tory all da way!

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    2. I think there might be a few folk employed to comment on this blog in an attempt to disrupt it. Causing that much concern are we? Good on ya Jim! Keep it up!

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  18. I am reading with dismay the vitriolic comments which are more than creeping in, with caustic remarks on Corbyn, Andrew, their workmates and even Jim! And I struggle to believe that these people are all working for what used to be a generally humane social service, with decent values and the commitment to enable people to turn their lives around, and reduce victims in the community.

    Until now, bloggers have largely fought the same fight, but now a new creation has started to appear, with a very bad odour, and I can only think that these people, hopefully a tiny number, may be the product of agencies, relatively unskilled, inexperienced and with a whole new attitude of self first. Certainly many of them have come out as Tory to the core. If this is the case, god help their workmates and their clients, and indeed, the rest of us.

    I apologise to all those decent agency appointments, but I just don't know from where this new alien has evolved.

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    1. I am apalled by some of the comments here. This is jim's blog and if he wishes to discuss Jeremy Corbyn that that is his prerogative.
      Jeremy won by a huge mandate and since he won 30 000 have joined the Labour Party

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    2. Too sensitive and inaccurate PO and management have had the class structure benefits for way too long. They expect everything and actually did not work hard or properly for much of their rewards. Rehabilitation has not been at the centre of their planning for years . They have always been a self first group as can be seen by the sheer number of staff come victims of the mass of inter power politics. It wont happen in the future as the privateer agenda takes full control. Here come temporary agency workers and then the management can be just as nasty as they always have been to them.

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    3. We have two agency workers in our office, they're great and have been a godsend. Both experienced and thoughtful POs. I wouldn't assume the grumblers are agency staff or even probation staff come to that(they don't sound very bright to me)

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    4. I joined Probation in 2006 and qualifed as a PO in 2008. I'm as conservative as they come. I work in a large metropolitan office and when politics was discussed at length on election day, voting preferences were pretty much split 50/50 between the Conservatives and Labour.

      I'm really not sure why some people think being a socialist should be a requisite to working in Probation and that conservatives are somehow not able to provide a service to service users or make a valuable contribution.

      We want our workforce to reflect society / local communities as a whole and if the entire workforce was left wing then that clearly wouldn't be the case.

      Difference of opinion is what triggers debate and makes things interesting!

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    5. You do realise of course this Govmt has been destroying the Probation Service. You sound like a turkey voting for Xmas.

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  19. I said many years ago that TR was, amongst other things, a bully's charter. As a manager and union rep, I have, throughout my career, been appalled at the bullying behaviour of colleagues of all grades top to bottom but, since the split, this has escalated exponentially. I am on my way out, one of the early victims of the French caterers, but, watching the picture develop and the humanity drain from the industry I have previously loved, I have few regrets.

    Probation has always been a broad church but I have often struggled to see how anyone who is party to the lives of the clients of this service could sympathise with the Tory perspective. The loss of a Social Work base has, however, increased the power and control aspects of the work so I guess it shouldn't be that much of a surprise that there are many who fail to recognise the relationship between poverty and social deprevation and offending. Strikes me that failing to recognise that relationship makes being an effective PO/PSO all but impossible but maybe I am the one who is out of touch.

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  20. I wouldn't let the odd troll post dampen your spirit! Corbyn's leadership can now help challenge the oppressive onslaught of increasing anti- poor legislation not to mention improve worker's rights; something at the very heart of this blog. The topic is entirely relevant in my view.

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    1. Corbyn offers the Left a new life he is welcome and that tory logic of we want more have more at the cost of all others cannot last as people we have to look after all our people in a fair society. The posts above are part of the tolerances finding a new level. As for the Richard post above just go anon having a name makes you no more identifiable and no more friendly . The post is no more or less impressive by a name shortened to Dick !

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  21. Regardless of what they say theTories are frightened to death that Corbyn is at the helm of the Labour Party. The other side of arguments will be heard by many for the first time. Sociologically we can see that the Left is on the rise in Europe for that matter so is the right. We have a chance to expose their sophistry and trust the logic of the young and poor across the land.


    The organisation "Positive Money" argue that Quantitative Easing for the people rather that for the bankers. Wipe out debt and increase wages and benefits and guess what you have put demand back into the economy, people will spend the extra money and small companies and coops will grow. People are seeing through the filth and lies the Tories and New Labour have been peddling for years.

    There are links between wider structural events and the work you do, you should really be seeing this by now, your career is up the swanee because of the said links/events.

    papa

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  22. There is no bullying on here. Just people with diverse opinions and views. Some of you need to get over yourself. Jim likes bashing unions or senior managers. Others like bashing NAPO reps. One recently wanted to name and shame poor practioners and managers, others bash the CRC. I like bashing Labour as Corbyn will take us back to the dark ages unless cameron and osbourne can stop him

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  23. Hi 20:26 and presumably previous posts. If only you had the wit or intelligence to either be a decent troll or a genuine colleague in Probation that just maybe was trying to provoke debate. Sadly you seem to be neither so with all due respect please ply your trade elsewhere. Hopefully neither you nor yours will become a victim of crime ,once at the hands of the tories and the , evidently appalling education you must have experienced is enough, the damage to you is apparent and of course it would be hoped that neither you nor yours find life takes a cruel turn and all that you thought to be secure suddenly disappears and there is no one there to say hi, could you use a hand, well not unless you pay them of course.. Just another diverse opinion you will of course understand. Take care on your journey elsewhere.

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  24. unison Industrial Action is attracting attention and this explains why it was necessary and how probation workers have been let down by their employers

    https://thoughtsofaleicestersocialist.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/putting-the-tories-on-probation/

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    1. Less than 10 people in London crc took strike action despite high number of unison members. Nearly all unison members went to work as normal.

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    2. Putting the Tories on Probation

      The government’s planned anti-trade union proposals, set out in their Trade Union Bill, is the most serious attack on trade union rights for three decades. This bill represents just the latest in a long series of attacks on the right of workers to organise collectively to protect their ability to earn a livelihood.

      On September 14 all Unison members working for the National Probation Service and community rehabilitation companies in England and Wales were forced to take strike action to right an injustice. The three-hour strike – their second – is being followed by two and a half weeks of action short of strike, with members working strictly to their contracted hours.

      Yet the Tories hated anti-trade union bill aims to relegate such ongoing acts of collective defiance to the dustbin of history. The Tories are conscious to the fact that strikes are critical to the armoury of the 99% against their own depredations. So under the cover of austerity, the Tories have continued to punish workers with pay cuts, while fat-cat bosses gorge themselves with colossal pay rises.

      This brings me back to probation workers, who since 2010 have faced an effective pay cut of 16%. Probation employees have evidently decided that enough is enough, and in July they took their first day of strike action over the ‘slap in the face’ 0% pay offer.

      Thereafter their dispute was carried forward through the independent dispute resolution body, ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service). But now their bullying employers have decided to walk of these ACAS pay talks. This ignorant action provided the spark for the current industrial action.

      Unison’s national officer, Ben Priestley, explained how his union members had entered into the ACAS talks with “an open mind and ready to reach a negotiated settlement” to their long-running dispute. But when their employer decided to walk away from the talks, their members “considered this a provocative action” that left the union with no choice but to call further strike action.

      Unison is hopeful that their actions will serve to encourage their employers to “come back to the negotiating table.” However, if they don’t return, we can be sure that the Trade Union Congress (TUC) lobby of Parliament on 2 November will provide the perfect opportunity for a massive mobilisation of working-class disgust at the Tories cuts agenda and their anti-union bill (#KILLTHEBILL).

      Jeremy Corbyn’s monumental rise to Labour’s leadership is a reflection of the mood to fight both Tory austerity and their attacks on the unions. And if the resounding nod of confidence that Corbyn attained in recent months can amplify the fight-back against our government then the Tories should be running scared.

      Workers may well choose to follow the lead shown by 150 million Indian workers who just a few weeks ago demonstrated their fury at their impoverishment by determinedly organising a 24-hour general strike. What there can be no doubt of is that in this age of austerity the working-class and their trade unions will play a central role in resisting the bosses’ onslaught.

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